CONDITIONS/FORESKIN
~60 degrees on a clear morning that turned to fog by the time we departed from Depot. A short time later as YHC drove to work he noted the fog had spread to Cola. This was no doubt the result of the the 17 #MenOfDepot that contributed to the water cycle today with their glistening sweat, heavy breathing, and oh so soft skin……um….sorry, :/ thought I was writing in my diary again instead of a backblast.
Either way….you are welcome people of The Midlands!
DISCLAIMER/WARM UP
We did a quick disclaimer, waived all of the health and safety rights for us and our property, and it was time for the warm up:
Side Straddle Hops x 15 IC
5 burpees OYO intermixed with Moose saying something about a “gentlemen’s agreement” limiting burpees after his 150 burpee fest last week that nearly got him voted off the island.
I’m more of a pirate’s code guy than gentleman’s agreements guy anyway.
Follow your Q to the bottom of the hill
Through The Tunnel x 15 IC, with claps, without, and at random times to distract the Q followed by
6 burpees OYO – a pattern is developing….
Mosey to the 2nd entrance and…
Imperial Walkers X 15 IC, no claps, followed by
4 burpees OYO – ok, he’s just messing with us now…
Mosey to top of the hill for 15 Mountain Climbers IC followed by
10 burpees OYO
THE THANG
The PAX sufficiently warmed up, we each grabbed a block….not a feathery light pink block like those guys at GOAT like to use…but a real man’s block (#FreeChippy) and congregated in the parking lot for further instruction.
Taking a page from the Lumbergh book, each PAX called out Left or Right as we went around the circle. Lumbergh likes to have the PAX turn their chosen direction, face one another and stare deeply into each other’s eyes. Then the more senior PAX will present the other with a rose….if they say accept, then something happens….I forget……you buy a time share in Florida together……er……something……
Since it really isn’t rose season, and YHC wouldn’t do something tacky like give a PAX a daffodil (of which he keeps several in his car at all times for “reasons”), we instead grouped in two large groups in honor of two #MenOfDepot on the IR…..the left (or Roommate) group and the right (or Soft…Toss) group. Totally random how RM and ST got either left or right.
So enough malarkey, The Thang went down like this:
The teams lined up at the top of the hill and each team would do 400 reps of an exercise. Once the team had cumulatively done 400 reps (teammates could help one another), they would run as a team to the bottom of the hill and do 400 reps of another exercise. In between rounds we either planked for a 10 count or the winning team did 9 burpees OYO, while the losing team did 10 burpees OYO (The diligent reader at this point realizes we are all winners in this, amirite???).
Feel free to heckle and cajole the other team’s form, counting skill, running ability, and general quality as people…..well all of that except the last one, we’ll save that for the backblast!
The sequences went as such:
Round 1 – Block Rows at top and two-count Mountain Climbers at bottom (400/400)
Round 2 – Curls at top and Big Boy Sit Ups at bottom (400/400)
Round 3 – Overhead Presses at top and two-count Flutter Kicks at the bottom (400/400)
Round 4 – Bench Presses at the top and Iron Crosses at the bottom (400/400)
From there we did a Ring of Fire Curls – Clockwise reps from 1 up to 3 reps then back down to 1 rep (only 6 total reps, BUT – rest between reps is in the up position, no resting the block on your chest..this is a long time when you have 16 PAX doing it and even longer when you have 15 pax watching you do it) TClaps to Coppertone for taking his time on his reps to make sure we got our money’s worth today.
YHC would like to pause this backblast for a brief word from our sponsor……Yee Haw Chew.
Yee Haw Chew, for the yee haw…in you.
Now back to your regularly scheduled backblast….
We finished up with some Mary consisting of:
Little Baby Crunches X 15 IC
Freddy Mercurys X 15 IC
Hello Dollys X 15 IC (courtesy of Coppertone….few in nice and slow cadence)
Rosalitas X 15 IC
BOM, COT, conclude BC.
MOLESKIN
We’ve been blessed in recent weeks (mostly thanks to Neck Brace and his incredible EH’ing (is EHing the same as blackmailing?) skills) with a number of new PAX who’ve graced the hallowed halls of Ballentine Park and become #MenOfDepot. It is great seeing these new PAX come in and I’m hopeful they’ll stick with it so they can see the benefits of this gift that is F3. I’m also hopeful they’ll stick with it so they can help the rest of of us old timers by challenging the status quo and teaching us a thing or two (or twenty).
Speaking of learning new things, a number of us have been participating in Depot’s new 3rd F group F3 Legacy on Tuesday’s at 5 am. Phonebooth has done an awesome job kicking this thing off and presenting us with great thought and discussion provoking material. At only 3 weeks in, we have already had some meaningful discussions about what it means to leave a legacy as fathers, husbands, and men.
In that vein, we were blessed today to have Thor, son of Pothole (not son of Odin, that’s a different Thor….our Thor is a marine, so he doesn’t need a fancy magic hammer to kick ass #SemperFi).
Thor just became a marine a few days ago. For those of us who call Pothole Friend (and we are legion), we’ve had the opportunity to share vicariously the joy Pothole has had (as a father and a fellow marine) as his son has been on and successfully completed his boot camp journey the last several weeks. Pothole and Thor have talked a lot about legacy recently, which was the genesis for the name of our 3rd F group F3 Legacy.
Legacy is a powerful word and a stirring that often grows in mens’ hearts as they approach the age range (I think we are called “tweens”) that most of us F3 PAX are.
In recent years I’ve found myself thinking about legacy more and more as a husband, father, and from a career standpoint. A few questions to consider:
Do you think about your legacy?
What would you like it to be, how would you like to be remembered?
Are you making the type of impact in the lives of others you want or that you could be?
What will you do today to work toward that legacy?
If you are struggling on any of the above, consider coming out to F3 Legacy (Tuesday’s 0500 at Depot) or our counterpart at GOAT F3 Billy (Thursday’s 0500 at GOAT) and see if that helps you gain any more clarity.
And now for a few TClaps for today!
TClaps to Phonebooth for his leadership and passion with the F3 Legacy group.
TClaps again to Thor for becoming one of the few, the proud this past weekend and for our boy Pothole for letting us share in this experience with him!
TClaps to Speedo for making his 6th post in a row, dude is just on a tear right now and we are glad to have him at Depot! #MontaniSemperLiberi also #F3SemperLiberi
TClaps to Puddin’ Pop for making another appearance out at Depot, 2 in as many weeks after a few years out of the gloom. #Kotters!
TClaps to Trickle, who has been batting about 75% since starting a few weeks back.
TClaps to EZ-Bake, who just had his 2nd post at Depot.
TClaps to newcomer Sheldon, who posted at Swagger on Monday. Name chain on Sheldon (from Sheldon himself). “I’m a big nerd”, thus Sheldon. Sometimes the PAX make this naming thing easy.
TClaps to the other “regulars” who were out there today, slinging those blocks, and #accelerating alongside each other – Moose, STH, Coppertone, Chubbs, Laettner, Darla, Buddy Love, Lorena.
See, we’re all winners!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you’ve been on the twitters or at a COT in the last month or two, you know that 1st, 2nd, and 3rd F F3 Lake Murray groups have been formed and things are #accelerating rapidly in our region. There is still an opportunity for PAX to get involved with these groups. Its a great way to get some more 2nd F with your brothers and shape the way your region F3s.
Reach out to Neck Brace if you are interested in being a part of this.
In the meantime, give our new 2nd F @F3Locktite and 3rd F @F3TwoTil twitter handles a follow for information on news and events.
We have a lot of things coming up here in the coming weeks and months for you to get involved in.
10/31/19 – Hostel on Q for Halloween @F3Depot! Be sure to wear your favorite costume as we do a costume themed Q!
11/7/19 – Thirsty Thursday Happy Hour (TTHH) is back! We’ll meet at the Tipsy Toad in Chapin. C’mon out and have some food, drinks, and conversations with your brothers. 6 PM.
11/9/19 – Stagecoach is looking for volunteers for Chapin Run Hard. You can be a run buddy or just help working the race. It will be a good way to get some 1st/2nd F and potentially a way to get that ever elusive #TripleDown by doing a Depot pre-BC/run, the XL BC, and the Run Hard event. See SC for details.
11/23 and 11/24/19 – F3 overnight backpacking trip to climb Sassafras Mountain (~20 mile round trip hike). This will be an awesome trip that will kick your ass physically while #accelerating and #elevating (see what I did there?) your 2nd F to new levels. Lots of HC’s already! If you are on the fence, sign up! See the preblast below for details and reach out to YHC with any questions or to HC.
It will be a blast, c’mon out!
12/5/19 – December TTHH. 6 PM Chapala Mexican Restaurant in Irmo. Chips and Salsa on Fiji.
1/11/20 – F3 Lake Murray Celebration – we’ll kick off 2020 with an F3 Party for us and the M’s. Will be held at Portrait Hill Clubhouse. More details and a preblast to follow so keep your eyes on twitter.
2/29/20 – The return of the Cottonmouth CSAUP!!!
Ongoing – The F3 Lake Murray 150 @F3LM150 and Back to School 50 post Challenges are well underway. TClaps to the 26 PAX that are participating in this. While the numbers keep rolling in and the HIM keep #accelerating, there is still time to join up if the #FOMO is getting the best of you. Just tweet your weekly number of posts to @f3LM150 each Saturday to join in on the fun. This is a great way to get some accountability from your brothers and get in the habit of recording your posts (what gets measured gets managed, after all).
Preblast below:
As we conclude October on All Hallows Eve tomorrow, our Q sheet still has a few openings for November. Let’s get on there and show it some love! We have lots of new PAX and a few seasoned PAX who haven’t done their VQ…..will we have another in November?
- 10/31 – Hostel
- 11/2 – Lumbergh
- 11/5 – Moose
- 11/7 – Neck Brace
- 11/9 – OPEN
- 11/12 – Hostel
- 11/14 – STH
- 11/16 – OPEN
- 11/19 – Lunchable
- 11/21 – Lumbergh
- 11/23 – Joanna BDay Q
- 11/26 – Jack Secret aka Bellhop
- 11/28 – OPEN
- 11/30 – OPEN
Let’s fill those open dates men. Link below to sign up to Q:
Reminder – the Ocho on Sunday’s at 8 PM, @F3depot. Also has returned recently to Depot on Saturday’s as well at times 0630 AM. Handball….#America’sGame
Reminder – coffeeteria following Boot Camp/Handball on Saturdays, 0630. Chick-Fil-A is the usual spot for this.
Run groups – Options galore for the PAX!
- Swagger – Monday at Little Caesar’s on St. Andrews (0530 am), and Wednesday behind Starbucks on Harbison (0530 am), @f3swagger,
- Twilight – Tues/Thurs behind Spring Hill High School (0430 am…no, that’s not a typo), @f3twilight
- Stagger – Mondays and Wednesdays at the CATE center, 0515 (sometimes 0530) am start time
- Donut Run – Friday at Lake Murray Blvd behind Dunkin Donuts (0515 am),
- 401k Run – After a brief respite due to SC Summer Weather, the 401k run is back and better than ever. Current BOM is 7 PM on Sundays from Lowman Home in Bethel Lutheran parking lot. Follow – @f3_401k_run for details as BOM and location can change
- Preakness – Join the #Clydesdales on Wednesday’s (and sometimes other days) at 0530 at DFHS track.
- Saturdays – Just run at handball OR someone is always training for something somewhere on Saturday mornings, DM me or @F3LakeMurray and we’ll hook you up!
PRAYER REQUESTS
Prayers for our brothers that are on the IR. Let’s encourage these guys to stay plugged in with F3 and to get out into the gloom and modify as needed. Some activity>no activity. 2ndF >going it alone.
Prayers for all the new PAX that have come to us in the last few weeks. Let’s keep those guys going for them and us.
Prayers for each of us that we can bury whatever pride or bravado that is holding us back from progress, contentment, and joy we could be having in our faith, with our families, our communities, and in our careers. #IAmThird
Unspoken
TL:DR
Living Third>Gentlemen’s Agreements>Burpees>Pond Scum>Ketchup on your white T-Shirt>Block Thieves
#FreeChippy
SYITG!